Canaccord Genuity Group Reiterates Hold Rating for Premier (NASDAQ:PINC)

Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $21.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $27.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on PINC. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $22.50 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Leerink Partnrs reissued a market perform rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $23.50.

Premier Trading Up 1.0 %

PINC opened at $19.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.21. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.39. Premier has a 52 week low of $18.65 and a 52 week high of $28.30.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $334.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.55 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 12.71%. Analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 60.43%.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 61.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,240,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,679,000 after purchasing an additional 471,683 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the 3rd quarter valued at $630,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Premier by 13.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 3,054 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 189.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 74,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 48,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Premier by 26.0% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

About Premier

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.